The Vietnamese Government has assigned the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology to build a national space center at a cost of about US$600 million with support from Japanese designers and technicians.

Dr. Doan Minh Chung, Director of the Space Technology Institute (STI) under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology announced this news at a ceremony marking the Academy’s fifth anniversary in Hanoi on Tuesday.

The center is expected to be complete by 2018 and will cover an area of 9 hectares of Hoa Lac High-tech Park in Hanoi. It will form a hub for research and installation of small satellites to meet demands for weather forecasting, research and disaster management.

The Vietnam Satellite Center, part of Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, was established in September 2011 to oversee and implement the project of the national space center.

Once the center has been built, Vietnam will have the most modern space science facility in Southeast Asia.